Skin Deep
by PorcelainDoll304
Summary: Coach Z's cousins come to town, and Strong Sad falls in love with the eldest. He tells the story of his love through a medieval fantasy style roleplay. Switches between roleplay and real life, is really worth a read. Strong Sad & OC.
1. Meet the Cousins Z!

**Disclaimer**: I only own the Cousins Z, meaning Cori, Cody, and Cobe'.

**Pronunciation Guide:**

Cody: Co-dee

Cobe': Co-bee

Cori: Co-ree (not Core-e. It's pronounced different, more of an 'oh' than an 'or' in the first syllable)

"Hello, and welcome to the games…" Click.

"Air fresheners brighter our day and our lives…" Click.

"And now back to the breaking news…strudel…healthy or not?" Click.

"Cobe', could you choose a channel already?"

"There's nothing good on…" The sound of a baby's crying interrupted the argument.

"Now look what you did, you made Cody cry!"

"That was partially your fault, Cobe',"

"Uh-uh,"

"Kids, that's enough! Now, you'll behave at the airport and on your flight or you two can be stuck with Aunty Moore for another six months,"

"Okay, okay, we'll listen!"

"Now boarding airline 156, direct route to Free Country, USA," the scratchy female voice over the loudspeaker called.

"I'll miss you, Cody," the woman in the green and yellow dress kissed the green-clad baby in the stroller, "Cobe'," the woman kissed the boy in the green jumpsuit and orange swim trunks, "and of course, my big girl, Cori," she kissed the tallest, the oldest and only girl.

"We'll miss you too, Mom," the young boy told her.

"Bye-bye, Mama!" the baby babbled.

"I love you, Mom!" the girl called out as she pulled the stroller off toward the plane and called out to her brother to follow, which he did, waving to his mother as they left.

"Cori! Cori, are you sleeping?" the boy asked, poking his older sister in the arm. She opened one eye and took out one bud of her headphones out of her ear.

"No," Cori replied.

"Don't ever sleep," he ordered.

"Why?" Cori replied, adjusting the sleeping Cody on her lap into a much more comfortable position.

"When will we get there?" Cobe' demanded.

"We'll be there in about," she checked her watch, "twenty minutes,"

"But what am I supposed to do for a whole twenty minutes?" Cobe' queried.

"Sleep, read, draw, color, and listen to music…" Cori replied, and looked out the window.

"Fine, but don't bug me," Cobe' ordered.

"Now approaching Free Country USA. Please fasten your seatbelts," Cori and Cobe' fastened their seatbelts and Cori held onto Cody as the plane slowly landed. They collected their baggage and hopped out of the plane, eventually stepping onto the black pavement and walking into the airport.

"We're looking for a Coach Z?" Cori asked.

"Ah, you must be Cori, Cobe', and Cody. He's right over there," the woman at the Help desk pointed to a man dressed in a green jumpsuit. Cori smiled at the woman and then walked over to her cousin.

"Cousin Z?" Cobe' asked.

"That'd be me," the man told him. "C'mon, I want to show you around Free Country!"

"Great!" Cobe' exclaimed as Cori worked on opening up Cody's stroller. All of them stepped out of the airport together and began walking.

"This is where my pal Hamstray lives," Coach Z pointed to Homestar's house.

"Hamstray!" Cody babbled.

"And, um, this is where his on-again, off-again girlfriend Marzipan lives," he gestured toward where Marzipan was watering her flowers.

"Are these the cousins you were telling me about, Z?" Marzipan asked, walking over, still carrying her watering can.

"That'd be them. Cody, Cobe', and Cori," he pointed to each of them in turn. Marzipan said hello to each of them, tickling Cody and making him giggle and babble.

"And this here is the house of the Brothers Strong, meaning Strong Bad, Strong Mad, and Strong Sad," Coach Z explained.

"HELLO COACH Z!" Strong Mad yelled.

"That's Strong Mad," Coach Z told them. Strong Mad came lumbering over and smiled.

"WHO NEW FRIENDS BE?" he asked.

"These are my cousins, Cody, Cobe', and Cori,"

"HELLO!" he bellowed.

"Hello," Cori replied politely.

"You look really strong!" Cobe' told him.

"I AM!" Strong Mad told him, picking up a tree and then looking at it. "UH-OH, MOM WILL BE MAD!"

"Um, I think it's best we get going," Coach Z said.

"GOODBYE!" Strong Mad called back.

"This is the palace where the King of Town lives and over there's the Poopsmith," Coach Z explained.

"Is that really poop?" Cobe' asked.

"Poo-poo!" Cody giggled. The Poopsmith nodded.

"That's so disgustingly awesome!" Cobe' exclaimed as the grill popped open and The Cheat ran over.

"Aw!" Cori exclaimed, scooping it up.

"That'd be The Cheat. He lives in a grill," Coach Z told them as Cori hugged The Cheat. It made happy The Cheat noises.

"It's adorable!" Cori squealed.

"Stop it with that girly crap. C'mon, let's go," Cobe' ordered, and Cori placed The Cheat back on the ground.

"And here's Bubs and his concession stand," Coach Z said finally.

"Howdy there, kids!" Bubs smiled.

"Hello," Cori said politely.

"I want candy!" Cobe' yelled, spotting it behind the counter.

"Well, you're in luck, today's 'free candy to kids' day!" Bubs told him, giving him a chocolate bar and some other candies.

"And then here's the locker room, where I stay. You two," he pointed at Cobe' and Cody, "will share the boys' locker room with me. Cori, you get the girls' locker room all to yourself, considering Marzipan's the only other girl around here and she doesn't use it very often since she doesn't play very many sports…and refuses to come within a twenty-foot radius of me…,"

"Okay," Cori nodded and took her bag with her into the girls' locker room while Coach Z led the boys into the boys' locker room.

"A modestly hot girl?" Strong Bad yelped. The Cheat made some The Cheat noises while waving his arms around.

"A modestly hot girl that's _not _Homsar? That's, like, bro-awesome, The Cheat! _Bro-awesome, _which is like, twenty-gazillion times better than just regular awesome! Okay, describe exactly what she looked like," The Cheat made some more The Cheat noises.

" Face like Coach Z's, only prettier…long-ish brown hair…grey ski cap with a lot of button pins …black shirt… grey jeans…black boots…wait a minute, this sounds a lot like my dorky brother! Well, I mean, I guess it might look sorta hot on a girl…okay; she was with two little boys, too? Describe them," The Cheat made some more noises.

"Okay, so the bigger one looked like a little Coach Z and dressed like him except his hat was orange and yellow and turned front ways, and he was wearing swim trunks? That's weird…but works…and the baby looked like Coach Z did in middle school, or at least how I imagined it. Okay, I think I've got it!" Strong Bad held up a picture of Biscuit Dough Hands Man. The Cheat smacked his forehead.


	2. Now She's Lady Zed

**Disclaimer**: I only own the Cousins Z, meaning Cori, Cody, and Cobe'.

**Pronunciation Guide:**

Cody: Co-dee

Cobe': Co-bee

Cori: Co-ree (not Core-e. It's pronounced different, more of an 'oh' than an 'or' in the first syllable)

"Cobe', could you please sit down?" Coach Z begged as Cobe' ran around soaking everything with a water gun.

"Pow! Pow pow pow pow pow pow pow! You're all dead!" he yelled, cackling with laughter.

"Okay, okay, so those once-dry towels are dead. Please sit down now!" Coach Z pleaded.

"The Really Strong Evil Guy turns around slowly, turning the gun on his own kin. Will he do it? Well, duh! It's no fun if the evil guy turns good!" Cobe' began soaking Coach Z and Cody with his water gun. Coach Z picked up Cody and ran outside, where Cori was waiting. Instinctively, she took the water gun from her brother.

"He's crazy! Unstoppable!" Coach Z yelled.

"Cousin Z, she took my gun and I was playing with it! Make her give it back RIGHT NOW!" Cobe' screamed.

"I don't think so, little buddy. I think that water guns are done for today," Coach Z said breathlessly, rubbing circles on the sides of his head as if he had a migraine. "Why don't you three go meet your neighbors?"

"I call Bubs! He's got candy!" Cobe' yelled.

"Actually, I was wondering about something. I found this," she held up a grey notebook, "in the girls' locker rooms,"

"Hmmm…" Coach Z leafed through it. "This appears to be Strong Sad's book of poems,"

"I thought Strong Sad was a boy. This was in the _girls'_ locker room," Cori pointed out.

"Yeah, well, I've caught his brothers talking about secret plans in there from time to time. Maybe they hid it there," Coach Z shrugged. "You're welcome to take it back to him,"

"Okay. Do you want me to take Cody with me?" she asked.

"Nah, I'll just take Cody with me…maybe have him meet the King of Town or something," Coach Z shrugged.

"Okay," Cori nodded and walked off, notebook under her arm. Soon she got to the house of the Brothers Strong. Strong Mad was outside, trying to 'fix' the tree. The branches were underground and the roots were pointed up.

"MOM WILL NEVER KNOW!" he insisted.

"Um…yeah. Looks…good as new. So, is Strong Sad around?" she queried.

"IN HIS ROOM!" Strong Mad pointed to the house. Cori nodded and walked into the house. She heard earnest chattering about hot girls and something biscuit dough from Strong Bad's room, and she decided she didn't really want to know about it. She knocked on Strong Sad's door.

"It hasn't been an hour yet…oh, hello. Are you Coach Z in disguise?" he asked.

"Um…no. I'm his cousin, Cori. I found your notebook in the girls' locker room," she told him, handing it to him. His face lit up.

"My poems!" he exclaimed, leafing through it. Though his brothers had written rude comments all over, the poems themselves were still intact, most likely so they could still laugh at them.

"I only read one or two, but I think they're very good. I'm not much of a poet myself, though I very much appreciate a good poem, and yours are very good," she told him. Strong Sad smiled.

"Well, why don't you come on in?" he asked. "Unless you have something else to do,"

"That sounds great," she replied, following him into his room.

"This room is awesome," she told him.

"You really think so? My parents always said that it was dark and depressing. They wanted to paint it orange," Strong Sad explained.

"No, seriously, this room is awesome," she told him. "Very calming and Zen,"

"Thanks," he replied. "Have a seat," Cori sat down in a chair across from Strong Sad. His desk was filled with candles and various CDs.

"Oooo, DEMENTED!!!, I love their work," she smiled.

"As do I. Their music has a soulful meaning underlying the furious guitar riffs and angry drumming, and their lyrics are very soul-grasping as well," Strong Sad said.

"I feel the exact same way!" Cori gasped.

"I've never met anyone else who saw things through the same dark tint that I see them through,"

"I sometimes feel like I'm looking out the tinted window of a hearse, about to be buried alive by the socially accepted," Cori explained.

"That's a very good way to put it," Strong Sad told her. "Perhaps you might be the one to give me a bit of advice on a subject I've been pondering in my mind,"

"I would love to," Cori told him.

"Okay, so the hands should be smaller?" Strong Bad asked as they passed Strong Sad's door.

"Meh!" The Cheat pointed to Strong Sad's room, waving his arms around madly.

"He's got a girl in there?" Strong Bad gasped, pressing his ear to the door. The Cheat did, too, and then he suddenly began squeaking ferociously.

"That's Coach Z's super hot cousin?" Strong Bad's jaw dropped. "But why's she hanging out with Dump-Face?" The Cheat made some questioning noises.

"I can't hear what they're saying!" Strong Bad groaned, opening the door a crack and peeking in, The Cheat peeking in under him.

"You need to open up deep inside and search down inside yourself…maybe then you can find it inside yourself to let them know how you feel," Cori explained, a tear slipping down her cheek as well as her newfound friend's.

"Meh…" The Cheat sighed sadly, a tear running down his own little yellow cheek.

"D-do you really think that'll work?" Strong Sad queried.

"It's advice from my soul. It's hardly ever wrong," Cori told him.

"Good grief…they're talking about souls!" Strong Bad whispered to himself.

"Yes. Advice from the soul hardly ever is," Strong Sad told her.

"Strong Sad, you are the most openly emotional and sensitive guy I've ever met," she sighed.

"You're the sweetest and nicest person I've ever met…guy or girl," Strong Sad told her.

"This mushy crap is making me want to throw up," Strong Bad whispered.

"Meh…" The Cheat clasped his 'hands' by his cheek fangirl-style and sighed softly like a love-struck teenager.

"We should definitely hang out again sometime…but I have to babysit my brothers while Cousin Z coaches," Cori sighed.

"Oh. I'd offer to babysit, but I'm not very good with children…actually, I'm not really good with people of any age," Strong Sad admitted.

"You'd hate Cobe' anyway. All he wants to do is punch people…preferably me. And he can really get Cody to show his bad side," Cori admitted, gathering up the things she'd brought with her which included her own notebook and DEMENTED!!! CD. Cori headed toward the door and opened it to find Strong Bad and The Cheat standing by the door twiddling their 'thumbs' and whistling.

"Oh, hey guys. Aw!" Cori scooped up The Cheat and hugged him.

"Hey, I'm soft and cuddly, too! Maybe you'd like to give me a hug," Strong Bad pleaded.

"Maybe some other time. Hey, maybe you two could babysit my brothers! All you'll have to do is bathe them, or, I guess shower them, since the lockers only have showers…, and then read them a story and put them to bed. It'll be very simple," Cori explained.

"Eh, I'm not really intended for children," Strong Bad insisted.

"It's not like you have to make a kid's show for them, all you have to do is bathe them and put them to bed," Cori told him. "I'm sure kids love your little The Cheat here,"

"Yes, they oftentimes do," Strong Bad admitted.

"So The Cheat can help you,"

"I don't know about this…" Strong Bad repeated.

"Oh….well, it would've been really impressive to see a guy watch kids…I mean, maybe even worth a hug or two…but if you don't want to, I suppose I could still watch them…," Cori tempted them.

"Well, I can't refuse a child in need, you know," Strong Bad told her. "I just love little kids, don't I, The Cheat? I love all kinds of cute little things…I mean, The Cheat showed up on my doorstep when I was a kid and everyone else wanted to throw him out into the cold, stormy outdoors, but I said I'd take care of him, and look how happy he is now!"

"Aw, how sweet! Just tell my cousin that you wanted to babysit for me. Everything you'll need is in the boys' locker rooms," Cori smiled.

"No problem," Strong Bad grinned as he left the house.

"Oh, gee, that was great," Strong Sad said, leaving his room.

"And my cousin already said I could sleep over here, this is going to be so much fun!" Cori giggled. "I just have to run home and get my stuff. I'll be back within an hour!"

"Goodbye!" Strong Sad called as she left. He then sat down at his computer, logging on to a role-playing website.

_**RP-Geek-101**__: You gonna work on your RP today, SS?_

_**depressio-177**__: Oh, have I got one for you…_

_**RP-Geek-101**__: Let's hear it, SS_

_**depressio-177**__: Here goes…_

_She came on a silver and green rectangular disc, no more than half a centimeter thick, her dark hair in a long braid with silver bands along it. Her eyes, like sapphires, scanned the land beneath the grey storm clouds. Her gown was black and violet, as though someone had ripped the heavens apart to create it, and matched with a silver belt with amethysts inside, looking priceless and beautiful, and also making her look priceless and beautiful, as though it was made of pure magic. Her feet were adorned by silver, thick-soled boots with violet metal clasps. Her skin, as flawless as an angel's, was pale as porcelain. Her beauty caused all to stare in wonder. Who was she? A royal from a distant land, perhaps? An evil villain, bent on destroying their world? Or perhaps just a simple messenger, delivering the royals a letter from her own world? All stared as her disc lowered to the ground, and scattered when they saw that she carried in her hand a silver staff, tipped with a beautiful crystalline orb that was caged in with four intersecting silver bars that curved to its shape, making it look like perhaps a dangerous animal. As she landed, she said four simple words,_

"_Where is the king?"_

_Of course, the peasants refused to give out this information, as she could be an assassin or an evildoer, so they simply retreated to their thatched-roof cottages, praying that she wouldn't destroy them. She acted as though they had never existed as she walked straight up to the king's dark castle. The gatekeeper looked her over._

"_I don't recall seeing you before," he pointed out._

"_I am from a distant land. I am here to return something that was stolen from your king years ago. Please permit me into the castle," she ordered. Bewildered, the gatekeeper allowed her into the castle. Those inside the castle, royals and otherwise, stared as she mounted the black marble steps to the throne room. Who is she? Why is she here? These questions were asked, but were not answered by the mysterious beauty as she climbed the stairs and was allowed into the throne room. The king had seen her enter and had heard her message to the gatekeeper. Therefore, he simply waited for the item she had claimed to have, and it most certainly came. The beauty bent down as was customary in the presence of the king and took out a worn black book, as thick, perhaps, as the cushion the king sat upon._

"_My people discovered this within the robes of a recently defeated enemy, Your Highness. We learned that it was stolen from you by this enemy long ago," she explained as she presented it to him._

"_Why, 'tis my old spell book!" he cried. "Every charm and incantation I had ever written is in this here book, and you have returned it to me. How may I ever repay your people?" _

"_There is no need for repayment, Sir. I merely require a night's rest in your fine castle," the young woman meekly suggested._

"_Why, then it is done! Stay as long as you wish…"_

"_Lady Zed," she supplied. _

"_I see. Well, Lady Zed, I am most certainly in your debt," he told her._

"_And what shall I call you, sir?" she questioned, ignoring the amending comment he had made._

"_Sir Strong," he replied. "The youngest, and, unfortunately, only Strong on this side of the war,"_

"_The only one on the right side, as I understand. Yes, my world is also under a brutal war, and my younger brother has taken my youngest brother and converted him to the wrong side of the war. Together, they are nearly unstoppable, and Sir?" _

"_Yes, m'lady?"_

"_I fear he may, perhaps, have followed me here." Lady Zed's pretty face was creased with fear._

_**depressio-177: **__End._

_**RP-Geek-101: **__Dude, that was awesome!_

_**depressio-177: **__Just made it up as I went along. I g2g, a friend of mine is sleeping over._

**Admin**___depressio-177 has logged off___

_**RP-Geek-177: **__I didn't know he had any friends…_


End file.
